Not My Cup Of Tea 🍵

Was sitting in bed Tuesday night watching the 10th inning of the Dodgers game when I watched Manny Machado go out of his way to intentionally take out the back heel of Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar.

My blood started BOILING…

This is coming off the heels (pun intended) of two erratic slides into second base in which he threw up his arm and grabbed the fielder in the groin area on both occasions. Earlier in the series Machado didn’t run out a ball to first base and when questioned about it after the game this was his response…

To be totally honest, if Manny doesn’t want to hustle all the time that’s between him & his manager. Trust me when I tell you, I don’t care. Yet, what I do care about is an overall respect for other players.

A few years ago when Machado was playing for the Orioles against the A’s, he whacked A’s catcher Derek Norris with his backswing. Something that was accidental yet also something every player who has ever done quickly checks to see if the catcher is ok… Machado arrogantly ignored the situation and showed zero signs of remorse.

When the A’s threw inside on Machado later in the series, Machado responded by throwing his bat (unthinkable baseball sin) that ended up over the third baseman’s head. The intent seemed obvious that Machado was attempting to fire his bat at the pitcher but happened to hold on too long.

We all make stupid mistakes and let our emotions get the best of us. As the years have gone on, I have done everything in my power to give Machado the benefit of the doubt. I really do enjoy watching him play and to see him develop into a perennial MVP caliber player has been fun to watch. I want nothing more than to root for his success. His raw athletic skills and baseball talent is a rarity within the game. In this sense… The game needs more Manny Machado’s.

Yet, his on field antics and complete lack of respect for his peers is disturbing to say the least…

Ironically, in Game 1 of the NLCS, Machado again smoked a catcher with his backswing and once again offered no apology.

His overall behavior on the field transcends baseball etiquette and falls much more in line with a total lack of human being societal decency.

Unfortunately, I fired off an emotionally filled aggressive tweet the other night that I was instructed to take down within minutes. Mom says if I don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Mom always knows best 🙂

Machado is an incredibly talented player and is set to hit the free agent market this winter. I am sure he will get broke off hundreds of millions and there is no doubt his statistics warrant it.

Yet, I can say with great conviction that if I were the owner of any of the 30 MLB clubs there is ZERO chance I would give this dude 1 f*cking dollar…

Baseball has chewed up and spit out the very best players who have ever played the game and it’s just a matter of time before Machado is kicked to the curb just like the rest of us.

The greatest thing that I loved about the game was the relationships I was able to build and it’s those relationships that are the only thing you are able to take with you when it is all said and done.

When you play professional baseball you are a part of an elite fraternity of brothers and ultimately, whether they are on your team or another, those brothers are family.

So…

What does all of this mean?

The great thing in life is that we can all learn from our failures but even better, we can learn from somebody else’s…

The saving grace and positive impact of Machado’s malicious incomprehensible actions is that he has now become the poster child we can use to teach future generations how NOT to play the game.

That said, I sincerely hope Manny will be able to realize how and why he f*cked up then take the appropriate action going forward to make things right with the dudes he goes to battle with and against on a daily basis…

Plenty times in my own life I have made HUGE mistakes and have had to come to grips with my own major faults and character flaws…